Japanese

いう

いう
Meaning: to say; to tell; to speak
Part of Speech: Verb

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Verb inflections

Form Affirmative Negative
Present いう いわない
Polite いいます いいません
Past いった いわなかった
Polite + Past いいました いいませんでした
Te-form いって いわなくて
Potential いえる いえない
Passive いわれる いわれない
Causative いわせる いわせない
Causative + Passive いわされる いわされない
Imperative いえ いうな

Handwriting

い
う

Example sentences

What did he say?
塵も積もれば山となるというが、努力の積み重ねが大きな事をなす。
They say 'dust heaps up to form a mountain,' but the accumulation of efforts achieves great things.
大は小を兼ねるという。
They say that the greater serves for the lesser.
山田とやらいう人が来た
A person called Yamada or something came.
あんな小娘に何ができるというのだ。
What can a mere girl like that possibly do?
彼は礼儀正しく、まさに紳士といった振る舞いだった。
He was polite and acted just like a gentleman.
彼は表向きは病気ということで欠席したが、実は旅行に行っていた。
He was officially absent due to illness, but in reality, he had gone on a trip.
この上、何を望むというのか。
What more could one possibly want?
豆腐を搾った後に、おからというかすが残る。
After squeezing tofu, a dreg called okara remains.
彼は三人兄弟の末っ子で、名前は三郎という。
He is the youngest of three brothers, and his name is Saburo.

Usage Notes

言う is the basic verb for 'say/tell'. Often written in hiragana as いう. Uses と particle to quote what is said. Different from 話す (to speak/talk) and 喋る (to chat).

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